Nilus of Ancyra→Anastasius (correspondent of Nilus of Ancyra)|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted
To Anastasius the Bishop.
The luminary of the great Church in Byzantium [Constantinople], or rather of the whole world, John [John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople], that wondrous priest, being endowed with discernment, often beheld that almost at every hour the house of the Lord did not lack, nor was ever without, the attendance of the angels, and most especially at the time of the divine and bloodless sacrifice [the Eucharist]. Filled therefore with astonishment and gladness, he recounted the matter privately to the genuine ones among his spiritual friends. For when the priest begins, he says, to perform the holy offering, very many of the blessed Powers, descending suddenly from heaven, clothed in certain exceedingly radiant robes, with bare foot, with intent gaze, and with the face inclined downward, surrounding the altar with reverence and with great stillness and silence, stand by until the completion of the awe-inspiring mystery; then, having been dispersed throughout the whole venerable house, here and there each of them, to the bishops, presbyters, and all the deacons who happen to be present and who are administering the body and the precious blood, work together with them, assist them, and labor along with them. These things I write, so that you, having learned the fearfulness of the divine liturgy, may neither yourselves be disposed to be negligent, dissolving away from the divine fear, nor permit any others to converse or to whisper during the offering, nor to nod about boldly, or to shift from a grave posture, nor to look about here and there, or to wander idly and vulgarly. For the Lord says to Moses, and through him to all the priests: "Make the sons of Israel reverent, and let them not be contemptuous."
The luminary of the great Church in Byzantium [Constantinople], or rather of the whole world, John [John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople], that wondrous priest, being endowed with discernment, often beheld that almost at every hour the house of the Lord did not lack, nor was ever without, the attendance of the angels, and most especially at the time of the divine and bloodless sacrifice [the Eucharist]. Filled therefore with astonishment and gladness, he recounted the matter privately to the genuine ones among his spiritual friends. For when the priest begins, he says, to perform the holy offering, very many of the blessed Powers, descending suddenly from heaven, clothed in certain exceedingly radiant robes, with bare foot, with intent gaze, and with the face inclined downward, surrounding the altar with reverence and with great stillness and silence, stand by until the completion of the awe-inspiring mystery; then, having been dispersed throughout the whole venerable house, here and there each of them, to the bishops, presbyters, and all the deacons who happen to be present and who are administering the body and the precious blood, work together with them, assist them, and labor along with them. These things I write, so that you, having learned the fearfulness of the divine liturgy, may neither yourselves be disposed to be negligent, dissolving away from the divine fear, nor permit any others to converse or to whisper during the offering, nor to nod about boldly, or to shift from a grave posture, nor to look about here and there, or to wander idly and vulgarly. For the Lord says to Moses, and through him to all the priests: "Make the sons of Israel reverent, and let them not be contemptuous."
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.